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Day Two in Australia and a Tour of Boomerang

On day two of my visit to Australia, I got up early and had to prepare for three separate media interviews. Each one was held on the 36th floor of the Shangri-La Hotel in different dining establishments. It’s always interesting meeting journalists and television personalities from other countries. After nearly an hour of interviews, Kevin and I met up with our driver and headed out to have some fun with my good friend, Paula Fox. Paula is married to Lindsey Fox, the founder and chairman of his family-owned trucking and logistics company, Linfox. I meet up with Paula in places like Sydney, Melbourne, Hawaii, and New York City. She was thrilled to show us her Sydney home, Boomerang, a recent acquisition. It was breathtaking, to say the least! We then ate a scrumptious lunch and also did a little shopping. What fun!

1 On day two, Kevin and I got up early. I had three interviews starting at 9am. Here I am with Melissa Doyle of Sunrise TV.

2 The second interview was with Lisa Wilkinson of the Today Show.

3 Interviewer number three was Angela Bishop of Ten News.

4 Following the interviews, we jumped in the car with our driver, Diego Lopez, and departed for our meeting/lunch/shopping with my good friend, Paula Fox. We saw lots of great sights along the way, including this wall.

5 Paula gave us a tour of Boomerang, the Fox's historic home situated right on Sydney Harbor. English architect Neville Hampson designed Boomerang in 1926 for wealthy Sydney music publisher Frank Albert.

6 I was really awed by this! - An entire hedge of gardenias! The scent was unbelievable.

7 This ancient stone bench in the garden is flanked by two beautiful cycad sago palms.

8 An old English lead urn with an amazing and unusual species of agave

9 Spanish American in style, the building got its name from Frank's father Jacques Albert's business trademark. Boomerang songbooks and mouthorgans were well-known in Sydney at the time.

10 The tiled roof was black when the Foxes bought the property. However, when they were cleaned it was discovered that the tiles were actually many colors!

11 The wonderful semi-tropical gardens on this vast property were recently redesigned by Myles Baldwin, the same garden designer who looks after Bronte House gardens from yesterday's blog.

12 Moorish-style tiles and ornamentation - Paula worked on the restoration project of this property for 3 years. I love these odd looking succulents.

13 A terrace of 'cracked ice' and a Star of David laid in stone.

14 Lovely fountains and pools abound.

15 Maria, the housekeeper, and her husband oversee the staff at Boomerang.

16 Stone pavers outlined with tropical grasses - a great look!

17 A better view of the grass growing amidst the pavers

18 Kevin's favorite urns in the garden - They are Eastern.

19 Another Eastern object - a gorgeous lantern

20 An old gas pump in the former garage

21 An old dishwasher in the butler's pantry

22 And the great old sink into which the dishwasher is built

23 The servery still has the original zinc cupboards.

24 The laundry room features tubs identical to those that I have at Skylands, my 1920's home in Maine. There were actually many similarities between these two great buildings.

25 The electrical closet was way too frightening!

26 These fabulous metallic glazed tiles look like they may have come from the Pewabic Tile Company in Detroit, Michigan. http://www.pewabic.org/

27 This is the sunken bath in Paula's bathroom.

28 A close look at the tiles - you can see that lots of gold leaf was used in the glaze.

29 The bases of the shower stalls are just like those at Skylands.

30 The bedrooms and hallways have magnificent fitted wardrobes.

31 A fun hat carousel in one of the closets

32 Of course, a built-in safe for valuables

33 A linen closet

34 Another fabulous bathtub

35 The magnificent balustrades are finely worked bronze and iron.

36 There are majestic stained leaded glass windows throughout the house.

37 The dining room features the finest woodwork. This is a lazy Susan built into the wall.

38 It's used for serving plated foods, which are placed into it from the servery on the other side of the wall.

39 One of the fine parquet floors

40 And more amazing parquet

41 Another bathroom in Boomerang with wonderful ceramic shelves and hooks

42 looking back at the house from the water

43 After the tour of Boomerang, we had lunch at Catalina, situated right on majestic Rose Bay. It is one of Sydney's most famous restaurants.

44 In keeping with the harbourside location, seafood is a Catalina specialty. The Head Chef is Mark Axisa.

45 Kevin opted for a Catalina signature dish of roasted suckling pig served with apple purée, braised red cabbage, and raisins. It was delicious!

46 In addition to the a la carte menu, Master Sushi Chef Yoshi Fuchigamii produces stellar sushi and sashimi. I had a chirashi sushi plate - slices of the freshest mixed raw fish served on a bed of sushi rice - excellent!

47 Another view of my chirashi sushi

48 An arugula salad with shaved Parmesan and balsamic vinaigrette

49 This is Paula

50 We were joined by Roslyn Packer, the wife of the late Kerry Packer, an Australian media tycoon. She was dressed impeccably in a Carla Zampatti design.

51 Roslyn and I in the restaurant while a giant storm approached.

52 I enjoyed a beautiful cappuccino.

53 The approaching storm

54 The sky was transformed in a matter of minutes!

55 Exchanging email addresses and updating phone numbers

56 After the storm passed, we went shopping. Every shop had something of interest, like these unusual Christmas decorations.

57 Many stores have evocative names like Pure and General.

58 Paula's favorite housewares shop is a café shop called La Croix, having a beautiful mix of old and edited new. We found many things that we wanted.

59 This carved stone plate was amazing.

60 I really loved this Belgian glass vase - beautiful artistry.

61 Paula wanted these great seals for her son's new home.

62 From the stone walls, to the banquettes, to the mirrors, to the floor - all done in great taste!